Drobo Announces New Storage Solutions For SMBs

By Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
Article Date: 2011-02-15

Small and medium-sized businesses that are in need of new storage solutions now have a few more options to consider. Last week, Drobo announced a new line of products meant to be both easy to use and inexpensive compared to some alternatives.

A statement released by the company explained, "Designed specifically for customers who need critical business storage capacity without the complexity and price of legacy storage solutions, the new Drobo business systems are optimal as primary and secondary storage for Microsoft Exchange, Sharepoint, and similar business applications, as well as departmental file-sharing or offsite backup, and server virtualization deployments including those using VMware solutions."

The selection starts with an 8-bay file-sharing Drobo with remote backup and an 8-bay SAN (iSCSI-attached) Drobo. They're both available now, starting at $2,199.

Then, if anybody's interested in something really fancy (and isn't in a huge rush), a 12-bay SAN (iSCSI-attached) Drobo with expanded redundancy features, support for thin provisioning and deprovisioning, and data-aware tiering technology is on the way. It'll sell for $9,999 starting sometime in the second quarter of this year.

That should cover a pretty wide array of needs. Drobo is pretty popular in certain circles, too, and so these products may count as appealing in addition to useful.

Mark Peters, a senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, gave his opinion on the matter by saying, "Now available for SMBs, Drobo is what it has always been - surprisingly advanced and scalable storage, packaged and priced for people who don't need to have doctorates or second mortgages to have easy, functional and sophisticated capabilities at their fingertips."

About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.